Dervala Hanley writes a quirky literary blog that got her a job is at Stone Yamashita Partners, a consulting firm that ”tries to bring humanity to business.” Hanley says the firm was attracted to her ability to put her business experience into personal terms on the blog.

I can vouch for that. That’s how I got a job with Google, through blogs or blogosphere, thanks to www.kertong.com. :-)

More than a year ago, when blogs were taking off, I decided to incorporate a blog onto my website so that I can learn more about web development and I’ve always wanted to write but never was on the yearbook or some mags. So I thought it would be a good addition to my website and I remember I was agonizing over which blog engine I should use. Well, actually, I remember I signed up in blogger.com, before it was bought by Google. Was using it for a while, then stopped. It was good for users who’s not into web development or doesn’t have a web server so I looked elsewhere. I started using Movable Type and while it has a very good content management, the installation was a bit complicated and that it’s static, not dynamic (although now they can be updated dynamically.) Then WordPress came along. I liked it because it’s dynamic, open-source and plug-ins were easy to use, but it was a little raw since it was new, then it got better and better. Now it’s one of the most popular blog tools and since it’s completely open source, I can look at the PHP and see how they do it, with the loops and functions.

Anyway, back to the topic, so I started a blog and decided to look for people who’s like me and saw Kertong’s website listed in the korean-american directory. Sent him an email, he replied back, we became friends, and eventually informed me that there was a job opening at Google. I went for it, applied, and got the job. Heh, I still owe him a keg of beer. ;-)

So, having a blog do pay dividends. And I wouldn’t really recommend you to use Xanga, myspace or those similar websites for that.

how about both? xanga is good because you can easily organize multiple users of the same host to check and read updates. i can collaborate with different groups of friends and provide insight into my life to these multiple parties. :-) i keep my personal blog for the special people (though more and more people are getting smart with sourcing the page to locate another domain). don’t hate on xanga! (hiss) lol.

Haha, you shouldn’t be relying on people’s stupidity as the means of protection. Collaboration in Xanga? That’s something new. Google’s just bought writely.com, where you guys can collaborate. Yeah, I can see that Xanga or other similar websites give a sense of belonging or community while domain websites are widespread like in the empty desert. Xanga is like for people who would go to these support groups-. Haha.

Well for a technical job, showing that you can configure your own remote webhost, manage it and set up php, blogging, etc yourself, rather than a predefined template-style blogging system like xanga, it shows a lot more drive, dedication, and know how. ;)

Glad you’re workin for us now, Nate. I hear you’re doing a great job, and you’re schooling everyone in foosball. Keep it up man, and I’ll see you on the west coast!

Haha, thanks, Kyung. Not a lot of people can see that, you know? They think I have it all set up, ha. That’s what I want to do with cars now as I want to get to the heart of cars, not just by driving them but knowing each part of it. A pure tuner.

Ah, foosball? I owe that to my super-reflexing hands/eyes coordination, like Daredevil and his supersonic hearing level. ;-